Tue, Apr 06, 2004
JetBlue Leads In On-Time Performance
In a head-to-head
competition between so-called legacy carriers -- the old guard,
like American, United and Delta -- and low-cost carriers such as
JetBlue and Southwest, you'll never guess who won the most recent
battle.
Yup, the new kids on the block.
"The low-fare carriers are definitely solid in their ability to
attract passengers, and it shows in the market share gains that
they're making," said Dean Headley, a marketing professor at
Wichita State University (KS) and co-author of the new study.
It shows upstart
JetBlue, ranked for the first time since starting with the
best on-time performance and fewer customer complaints than any
other airline save Southwest.
It was an amazing turnaround for the low-cost carriers (LCCs).
When Headley and his co-author, Brent Bowen, director of the
University of Nebraska's Aviation Institute, started the study in
1991, LCCs had just four percent of the market. Now, Headley and
Bowen estimate LCCs will carry 25-percent of all domestic
passengers by 2006.
The latest annual study "adds further evidence to the emerging
performance gap between the legacy carriers and the no-frills
network carriers," said Bowen.
So are the big boys down and out? Not necessarily, said Bowen.
"The survey seems to count out the fact that a large percentage of
business people need ubiquitous service at any time of day." Add to
that Americans' strong affinity for frequent flyer miles. That,
said the authors, has a lot of people very loyal to a particular
airline -- one that will get them to Hawaii or the Bahamas or
wherever they want to go when it's time to put down the spreadsheet
and pick up the suntan oil.
Rankings
- JetBlue Airways
- Alaska Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- America West
- US Airways
- Northwest Airlines
- Continental Airlines
- AirTran
- United Airlines
- ATA
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- American Eagle
- Atlantic Southeast
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